


Taking the Long Way

by somethingsintheair



Category: Ninja Sex Party - Fandom, TWRP | Tupper Ware Remix Party (Band)
Genre: Gen, Implied Past Relationships, In-Universe Ninja Sex Party, Slice of Life, Time Travel Shenanigans, WIP, discussions about boobs?, ninja sex party, not really graphic but you know, prismatic core, sung's core is a thing in his chest and he works on it a lot so there's a warning, they fucked up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-02-08 02:54:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12855207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somethingsintheair/pseuds/somethingsintheair
Summary: It was a very delicate process, and Danny had gone and fucked it up. Simple as that.A dumb mistake sends two morons stranded back in time. Join them as they bicker endlessly and maybe also grow as friends.Update 11/8/18: There is a sequel fic in the works!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a WIP I'm just writing for fun, and I can't promise consistent updates or perfect continuity. But I'm hoping to have at least a vague outline before I post any more, so I do intend to complete a full story eventually!

It happened so fast, neither of them could recall what exactly had caused it.

All Sung wanted to do was perform some basic maintenance. Some simple adjustments to his prismatic core, a little check-up to make sure everything was still working properly. He performed them regularly, as it was very important to pay attention to such a complex device when it was wired into one’s body. So, he had been in his lab for a good hour, his shirt rolled up to his collarbone as he worked away.

Sung always made a point to be extremely careful. Even though it was a routine task, it was still a very delicate process. All it would take was a little twitch, a little jump, perhaps one of his bandmates walking in at an inappropriate time and startling him. And Danny had gone and fucked it up, simple as that.

He remembered the door opening, Danny’s voice, his hand slipping, and a screwdriver poking into something it really, _really_ shouldn’t have. The pain had hit Sung’s chest immediately, and he let out a string of curses under his breath as he doubled over in agony. Danny had rushed over, apologizing profusely, but that didn’t help the situation at all. With a flash of bright light, they weren’t in Sung’s lab anymore. It was more like a tiny workshop, with not nearly as much for supplies, and considerably more messy.

They were dead silent as they looked around the room. The lingering ache in Sung’s chest was suddenly minimal compared to the intense feeling of dread creeping in. Danny wasn’t looking any more relaxed, if his facial expressions were anything to go by. A combination of terror and remorse was very obvious in the way he looked at Sung.

"Uh… Doctor Sung?" Danny said, his voice a little shaky. When he looked at Sung, the doctor was screwing in the plate back onto the front of his chest. And before any sort of explanation could take place, he grabbed Danny’s arm and dragged him out the door.

One look outside confirmed Sung’s fears. Dirt and rocks surrounded them. A lot of dirt and rocks. There were a few patches of grass scattered about, as well as small bodies of water. A couple of massive trees. Neither of them could see any sign of a single man-made structure, aside from the shed they’d appeared inside of.

"Where… are we?" Danny asked, his guilty fear gradually replaced with plain confusion.

"We’re in the past." Sung was still holding Danny’s arm, and used his grip to continue pulling him away from the shed. "My past. We need to get the hell away from here before we find me."

"We’re... _what?"_

"My core got fucked and sent us back in time," Sung answered, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "But if my past self sees me now, that could create all sorts of--" Sung stopped in his tracks and Danny walked right into him, nearly knocking them both over.

"Ow, what?" Danny groaned rubbing his chest where he’d slammed it into the back of Sung’s helmet. He looked up to find that they were standing in front of a dark, rather ominous cave. He didn’t like that one bit.

"Stay here." Without another word, Sung ran right into that cave. He searched around, turned on the light in his chest (which was flickering quite a bit due to the damage done), cleared away some rocks, all to find… nothing. Absolutely _nothing._

Danny didn’t have time to react when Sung ran out of the cave, grabbed his arm once again, and started sprinting back towards the shed.

"Hey, wh… Doc, what the fuck?" Danny asked, his legs struggling to keep up as Sung dragged him along.

"We don’t have to worry about meeting me because I’m not here anymore!" Sung replied, a little too giddy about all this for Danny’s taste. "I already left!"

Still thoroughly confused, and frankly fed up with feeling so out of the loop, Danny yanked his arm back and took Sung with it. The doctor stumbled back a few steps before he finally stopped, looking up at Danny with a frown. "What?"

"Just… can you just take a breath and tell me what the fuck is going on?" Danny asked.

Sung let out a huff, like it was already so clear what was happening. "I messed up. Or… you messed up. Something went wrong, is what I’m saying," he explained. "We got sent back in time. Me because I have a malfunctioning time machine wired into my body, and you because you were touching me at the time of the jump."

"Okay… I figured that much, I guess," Danny said, "But you were freaking out before. What was in the cave?"

"Well, you know how I found Havve in a cave, like, several million years before our present time of residence?" Sung asked. Danny nodded, and Sung took that as his cue to continue. "That’s the cave. Several million years ago. But Havve’s not in that cave, which means past me has probably left already. And _that_ means I can utilize what’s in my old workshop and get us the hell out of here. Make sense?"

Slowly, Danny nodded. His brain was still catching up to the situation, but he got the gist of it. "So… you can get us back home?" he asked.

Sung grinned, turned on his heels, and started rushing Danny back towards the workshop. "I can try!"

* * *

Sung’s old workshop was a humble little place, considerably less intimidating than the basement lab Danny was more familiar with. The walls were lined with cabinets and shelves, all full of various tools and devices that he couldn’t even try to identify. In the center of the room stood a worktable with various blueprints strewn across the surface.

"What are all these?" Danny asked as he picked up a sheet of paper. He couldn’t make out any of the handwriting, but it looked like a diagram for some sort of structure.

"Not important right now." With one sweep of his arm, the Doc sent all the blueprints flying towards the floor. He hopped up to sit on the table, legs crossed, and pulled his shirt up. Danny decided the most polite course of action would be to turn away as he set the blueprints down. But after some rustling and the unpleasant sound of metal clanking against metal, Sung addressed Danny again. "Hold this, would you?"

The moment Danny turned around, Sung shoved a handheld mirror into his arms. It was an old metal thing, the surface stained with substances he didn’t really care to identify. "Hold… why am I holding this?" Danny asked.

Sung held up a screwdriver. "So I can see," he answered. He grabbed the mirror and adjusted it so that Danny was holding it right in front of his chest. With that, he started to loosen the screws on the plate that kept his light attached to his chest. Danny watched on as Sung worked, removing the screws one by one and placing them each down carefully beside him. Sung popped the front panel off his chest, and in an attempt to avert his eyes from the core itself, Danny couldn’t help but notice the odd scars along Sung’s chest. Staring at those didn’t seem any better, so he settled on just watching the doctor work.

"So, uh… do you know what’s wrong with it?" Danny asked as Sung set the light down on his lap. Along with it came a bunch of wires connected to something inside of his chest, one of which was very clearly broken off.

"That’d be it," Sung mumbled as he reached into the big, wide tube in his chest that held the light in place-- presumably for the other half of that wire. Danny wasn’t at the right angle to see the inside of it, and frankly, he was thankful for that. Even just watching Sung dig around in there was enough to make him a little nauseous.

"I must’ve bumped it with the screwdriver when you startled me," Sung said. "Could you pass me the electrical tape on the counter there?" Danny glanced behind him at the aforementioned counter. It was a little awkward, reaching over to grab the roll of tape while still holding the mirror up for Sung, but he managed. A mumble that vaguely sounded like a ‘thank you’ was all he got in return before Sung got back to work.

For the sake of his own health, Danny decided to look away for a bit. He couldn’t think about what was going on too much. "So… you really brought Havve back to life?" he asked, "When you found him here?"

Sung hummed an affirmation as he tore off a piece of tape with his teeth. He retrieved the broken ends of the wire, the tape stuck on the side of his finger. "His heart was-- _shit."_ He jumped and his face contorted into a grimace when the wires touched. "Uh. His heart, it was… basically gone, so I just shoved a drum machine into his chest and called it a day." He started to wrap the tape around the wires, but paused to look up at Danny again. "Well… no, I’m being humble. I rewired an organic cardiovascular system to work perfectly with an old piece of junk, so. I’d say I’m pretty amazing."

Danny chuckled. "Yeah, I gotta say, that sounds pretty impressive," he said. "Uh, is everything okay there?"

"Mm, yeah," Sung replied as he finished taping. He gave the wire a gentle little tug on both sides to check its durability before he was satisfied. "And it was a lot of work, you know. It’s a lot _more_ work keeping him up and running. Sure, I have a lot of knowledge and both robotics and organic anatomy, but combining the two can get pretty complicated."

"I can imagine," Danny said. "It’s really cool what you do, though. Keeping everyone healthy and all."

Sung shrugged. "It’s a living." He started to feed the wires back into the tube in his chest, and carefully placed the light back in place before he screwed the front panel back on. He pulled his shirt back down before he spoke again. "Okay. Take two?" He offered Danny his arm.

Danny’s managed a hopeful little smile as he set the mirror down on the table. "Take two," he echoed as he grabbed Sung’s forearm.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sung and Danny attempt some problem solving.

After a flash of light, a tingly feeling in Danny’s body, the two of them were… still not home. That was the first thing he noticed. The second thing he noticed was the thump that came from Sung landing flat on his ass beside him.

"Wh-- hey, you okay?" Danny asked as he offered Sung a hand.

"Fine." Sung managed a chuckle as he took Danny’s hand. Once they were both up on their feet, Danny took a look around them. It was an empty, dim room, save for a few faint fluorescent lights.

"Where… are we?"

Sung hummed, rubbing his tailbone as he glanced around them. He pointed to a small window on the other side of the room. Only stars were visible through the glass. "Space," he stated simply.

Danny opened his mouth, ready to complain, but instead found himself stepping towards the window to take a look. He put a hand up to the glass as he peered through, out at the stars and the emptiness of the cosmos. No matter where he looked, it was all the same. Stars. Space. An endless void. "It’s… beautiful," he spoke under his breath.

"You’re acting like you’ve never been out here before," Sung said from Danny’s side, which caused the man to jump in surprise.

"Well, I… I haven’t, really," Danny said. "Not since I was really little, anyway. We sing about space travel and all, but… I’ve lived on Earth for most of my life."

"Well, you could’ve just said so," Sung replied with a chuckle. "You didn’t have to sabotage my maintenance and send us flying randomly through time and space just to take a little field trip."

Danny scoffed, almost offended by the suggestion. "You know I didn’t do this on purpose, you dick," he said. "But what’s the deal? Can you try to fix it again?"

"Mm. I like that word, _try,"_ Sung replied. "A good word, I can definitely try. However, I have no idea where we are, and this ship could very easily be filled with people who are going to try to kill us."

Danny took a glance around. "Doesn’t look like it," he said. Then, much louder, "Hello??"

That earned him a smack on the arm from. "Dude, shut up," he said. "What part of ‘people who are gonna try to kill us’ do you not understand?"

"Maybe they're nice," Danny mumbled.

"Yeah, and maybe they’re _not,"_ Sung argued. "Just… take my arm, we're gonna try this again. Maybe we can land somewhere safer."

Danny let out a sigh before he rested a hand on Sung's shoulder, and soon saw another flash of light. All this time and space travel was starting to give him a headache.

A hand on his chest nearly made him jump out of his skin.

"Danny?" asked a soft voice, barely above a whisper.

"Yeah… yeah, it’s me." Danny replied, equally hesitant. He reached forward until his hand bumped a hard, smooth surface. Ah, yes. The cone. "Where are we now?"

A little click, and the light in Sung’s chest flickered on. "We’re in a closet," Sung replied, as if that wasn’t immediately obvious. On one side of them was a clothing rack, and on the other side, a door. Sung rested a hand on the knob before he flicked his light off. "One sec."

He opened the door just a crack, and peeked through for a second before he pushed it open all the way. "We’re good," he said, now at a normal volume as he stepped out of the closet. Danny followed behind much more hesitantly, eyes wandering around the dim room. He couldn’t make out much other than a bed in the center of the room until Sung turned the lights on.

"It’s a bedroom," Sung stated, as if that wasn’t also obvious. It was a simple room, with a queen-sized bed with white sheets and a beige comforter. A nightstand beside it held a red lamp, and a big red chair sat in the corner of the room.

"We’re in someone’s house?" Danny asked. He looked around the room until he spotted a window, and parted the curtains to glance outside. It was nearly pitch black out, and just about impossible to make out any sort of detail.

"Looks like it," Sung replied. "Or a hotel room, maybe, since it’s nighttime and no one’s in here."

"Makes sense," Danny mumbled. He was still squinting at the window, trying to get any sort of clue as to where the fuck they were. Not that he would have any idea just by looking, but still.

By the time he turned around, Sung was working on his core again. He was sitting on the edge of the bed and using a coin to unscrew the front panel in his chest. Within the doctor’s moment of quiet concentration was the first time Danny really got a good look at his chest. He did have quite an interesting arrangement of scars going on there-- along with a few clusters of marks shaped like lightning bolts, he had a distinct scar down his sternum, through his core, and one under each of his pecs. The scar in his sternum looked older, much more faded and just barely noticeable at a glance. The other two were more distinct, and just a little less precise.

"You can ask if you want," Sung said, tearing Danny away from his thoughts. "It’s cool."

Danny blinked, lifting his head to look at his face. "Sorry, what?"

Sung paused, presumably to meet his gaze. Danny could never tell while Sung had the visor on. "My scars," Sung elaborated. "I know you’re staring. It’s okay to ask about them if you’re curious."

Danny hesitated, mulling over the possibilities before he asked, "What are they from?"

"The, uh, pretty lightning bolts, those are from my core shocking me," Sung answered, "Right after I installed it. That was a ride." He pointed to his sternum. "This one down the middle is from that same installation. I had to cut _somewhere_ to get this thing in me." He paused before he got back to unscrewing the panel. "The other two are from a tissue reduction."

Danny furrowed his brow. "A… what?" He asked, eyeing the two scars in question. "What did you..." He trailed off right before it hit him. "O-oh, shit, man, I’m sorry," he stuttered. "I didn’t mean to… to intrude, or--"

"I said you could ask," Sung said with a wave of his hand. His relaxed tone was a perfect contrast to Danny’s exasperated apology. "It’s fine."

Danny nodded slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. This was… new information, for sure. Definitely. But it didn’t matter, right? It _shouldn’t_ matter. But… could he ask more questions? _Should_ he? Was he overthinking things?

"It’s not that big of a deal, is what I’m saying," Sung continued as he popped the panel off of his chest. "It’s not this big, dark secret. I just don’t really see the point in talking about it, is all. It was something that was bothering me, so I changed it."

Danny nodded again. He was totally overthinking things. "So you… wait." He blinked. "Did you do it _yourself?"_

"Yeah, just like my core," Sung said with a shrug. "What, did you think I was gonna go up to the Commander, all, ‘hey, I know we only just met, and you’ve never held a scalpel in your life, but I need you to help me get rid of my tits’?"

Danny paused. Opened and closed his mouth a few times. Tried to process what he’d just heard. "I… well. No. I guess not."

"Exactly. Hold these?" Sung held out a handful of screws and dropped them into Danny’s open palm. "Anyway, something’s real fucky with my wiring, and if I don’t fix it, we could end up literally anywhere in space and time. Frankly, we’re lucky we haven’t ended up anywhere hostile yet."

"Well… yeah, that’s true," Danny said with a little nod. It took him a second to realize he was still staring at Sung’s chest, and he was quick to direct his gaze back up at his visor. "Sorry, I… don’t wanna make this, like, a big deal or anything," he said.

"Then don’t," Sung replied simply. 

"I mean, just… I don’t want you to think I have any sorta... _problem_ with this," Danny added, "You know?"

"Mm, really?" Sung asked, his focus still set on the tube in his chest. "Then why are you still talking about it?"

"N-no, I just..." Danny let out a frustrated little noise. "It was just... kind of a shock to me at first, but I’m okay now, and I wanted to be clear that I don’t have any issues with--"

"I know, I know," Sung cut him off, chuckling softly. He had this smug little smile on his face. "I know you don’t mean anything by it, it’s fine. I’m just giving you a hard time."

Danny huffed and crossed his arms. "Well… good," he said, "I’m glad we’re on the same page."

Sung just hummed in response. He had popped out the light at some point during Danny’s minor breakdown, and was sorting through the mass of wires that connected it to his chest. "I think I need wire cutters," he mumbled.

"Wire cutters?" Danny furrowed his brow. "For what?"

"To cut wires, Daniel." Sung looked up at him. "Come on. I know you’re not a genius, but you’re better than this."

Danny sighed. "Alright, well where are you gonna get those?"

Sung shrugged before he pressed the panel back onto his chest. "If it’s a hotel, they have a maintenance room. If it’s a house, they probably have a toolbox." He held his hand out. "Hand me one of those, would you?"

One by one, Danny handed over the screws, and Sung screwed them each back in carefully with the coin. Once the panel was secure again, he stood up and pointed to the door. "Alright," he said. "You first."

Danny blinked. "What?"

"You’re less... colorful. If this is somewhere we’re not supposed to be, you’ll draw less attention."

"Well… well, what if bright orange traffic cone helmets are the norm here?" Danny asked, arms crossed. "We don’t know."

Sung, who was already pushing Danny towards the door, let out a huff. "No, but I _do_ know that the eye is naturally drawn to brighter colors, regardless of whether or not it’s ‘the norm.’ So go peek outside."

"Fine, fine, stop pushing me." Danny swatted Sung’s hands off of him. Carefully, he approached the door, and took one last glance back at Sung before he cracked it open. They were in the middle of a long hallway, he could see that much. All the lights were on. With another careful turn of his head, Danny could see that the wall was lined with doors similar to the one he was peeking out of.

"I think it’s a hotel," he whispered as he pulled his head back in. "What do we do?"

"Oh, perfect," Sung replied at full volume before he nodded towards the door. "Let’s go." He made a move to step outside, but Danny was quick to stop him.

"Wait… how do we know we’re safe here?" he asked, still in a whisper. "What if they think we broke into the room or something?"

Sung just scoffed. "Oh, trust me, we’ll be fine," he replied as he gave Danny a little push aside. "I can be very persuasive when I put my mind to it. As long as no one decides to surprise attack us, we’re golden."

Danny still seemed reluctant to venture outside, but soon after Sung made his way out the door, he realized he’d be better off following after him than sticking around by himself. He closed the door gently behind them, not wanting to make any more noise, and did a little frantic power walk to catch up to his companion.

The rest of the hotel was pretty nice-- plush carpets, elegant wallpaper, some odd plants scattered about that managed to distract Danny from his anxiety as they made their way down the hall. After a couple trips down a couple long staircases, they still hadn’t seen anyone else, and he was almost starting to feel relaxed.

Then, someone tapped him on the shoulder.

Danny let out a rather unattractive yelp as he whipped around to face the person in question. Then, he had to drop his gaze lower. It was a short little blue alien, wearing a pair of brown overalls and a cap to match. It barely reached Danny’s hips in height and it looked pretty unhappy, its gooey little face contorted into what looked an awful lot like a frown. Momentarily, Danny’s fear was overshadowed by his curiosity about how the thing had managed to reach all the way up to his shoulder in the first place.

Then, it spoke.

Danny couldn’t understand a syllable, but boy, did it sound angry. Before he could form any sort of response, Sung gently pushed Danny aside and kneeled down in front of the alien. He spoke calmly, words Danny still couldn’t even begin to understand, and the alien simply yelled back.

Sung’s posture seemed to sink a little before he reached for the visor on his helmet. "Danny, look away."

Danny had already averted his eyes-- he’d never seen the guy’s face before, and at this point, it just felt _wrong._ He heard a few more gentle words from Sung, and suddenly, the yelling stopped. Danny waited a few moments before he turned back to look at Sung.

While the doctor stood up straight again, the little alien was wandering in the opposite direction.

"...The fuck was _that?"_ Danny asked.

"I told you," Sung replied as he adjusted his helmet. "Persuasive."

* * *

It took several more minutes of wandering around the hotel, but eventually, Danny and Sung were able to find a maintenance closet. Danny, still a little freaked out from the previous incident, decided to linger by the doorway and keep watch.

"So… what’s cutting a wire gonna do for us, exactly?" he asked.

Sung, who was crouched down by a large shelf, lifted his head up to answer. "Dunno. But it’ll do _something,_ for sure, and that’s really all we need right now."

Danny sighed and crossed his arms. "How long do you think it’ll be until we get back home?" he asked.

"Dunno about that either," Sung said as he returned to his search. "This technology is really finicky. That’s why I don’t really time travel anymore."

"Well… why do you still have that ability in your core in the first place?" Danny asked. "Why didn’t you get rid of it?"

"You never know when you’ll need that kind of thing, Daniel," Sung replied as he stood, this time with a screwdriver and a pair of wire cutters in hand. "But I promise when we get back, I’ll figure out a way to stabilize it a little more, okay? Just for you."

They went through the usual routine-- more unscrewing, removing panels, Sung asking Danny to hold things. Within a few minutes, Sung had picked out which particular wire he wanted to cut, and was holding the cutters at the ready. He paused, however, to glance up at Danny. "Hold on," he said, "Grab my arm. In case something goes wrong."

"Dude, something’s _definitely_ gonna go wrong," Danny replied, but rested his free hand on Sung’s arm nonetheless.

Sung offered him a little smile. "Just... trust me, okay?" he asked. And before Danny could give any sort of snarky remark, Sung cut the wire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little disclaimer: I am in no way speculating about our boy Doc Sung's identity as a real live human being behind the character. I don't know jack about his personal life and don't care to find out.


	3. Chapter 3

When Sung finally regained consciousness, he felt like absolute shit. His head hurt, his chest hurt, and part of him wished he hadn’t woken up.

It took a minute for his eyes to focus on the harsh light hanging above him, even through his visor. But once he could see clearly, he glanced down at his chest and realized that it was still bare. The light that was usually secured in the front of his chest was instead sitting on his stomach. That was more than enough cause for alarm, and he quickly sat up to look around. He was in some sort of… workshop? Repair shop?

"Hey there, sleepyhead," a soft, oddly familiar voice greeted him. Sung whipped his head around to find the source of said sound, and his eyes widened. There was a short woman in a blue suit-- a woman he very much recognized-- standing right beside him. She had long, straight brown hair, and long pointed ears that poked out from between the strands. "You pulled... quite a stunt there, huh?" she asked.

_"Bajillian?"_ Sung squeaked, suddenly ecstatic as he reached out to get ahold of her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, their faces mere centimeters apart before he froze in place.

She looked… different. And it wasn’t just the panic on her face that was unfamiliar.

"...Bajillian?" he said, a little softer this time. Something wasn’t quite right.

"Dude, what the fuck are you doing?" came another voice-- Danny’s-- with a chuckle as he entered the room. Sung promptly separated himself from the poor woman, his face hot. Something _definitely_ wasn’t right.

"Wh- where have you been?" he questioned.

"Seriously?" Danny asked, still laughing as he approached the table Sung was sitting on. "I’ve been gone for, like, five minutes. I’m honestly impressed."

Sung just shook his head and directed his attention back to the light hanging out of his chest. "It was a misunderstanding," he said before he spared a quick glance at that poor woman. "I’m really sorry."

"Oh, right, of _course,"_ Danny replied with another laugh as he rested his elbows on the table. "A misunderstanding. Either way, it’s good to see you awake."

"Where... are we, exactly?" Sung asked.

"We landed on this planet when you cut your wire," Danny explain, "And this lovely lady’s a… mechanic or something, so she’s been trying to fix you. You’ve been out for, like, an hour. I was starting to wonder if y--"

"How did you know my name?" the woman interjected, and Sung lifted his head to look at her again. She looked awfully uncomfortable, arms crossed over her chest. "We’ve never met."

Sung let out a little sigh. "It’s… complicated," he said, "Time travel. I’ve met you, but you haven’t met me. Yet."

Bajillian nodded slowly, but was still giving uneasy glances to the both of them. "Why did you… were you gonna _kiss_ me?" she asked.

"Don’t worry about it," Sung said, "You know, time travel." He looked down at his chest. "But, more importantly, what exactly did you do to me here?"

"Well... I reattached the wire you cut, for one," Bajillian replied. "You started breathing again after that, so I’d say that was a smart move on my part."

Sung nodded, now searching through the mess of wires that came from his chest. "Okay, yeah, good thinking," he said, "Thank you for that. Anything else?"

"Um, you had an exposed wire right near that glowy thing in your chest," Bajillian replied, pointing towards him. "So I taped over that. And it shocked me in the process, so. I’m guessing that wire was contributing to your problem?

"Mm, very possible," Sung said with a nod. "Thank you for that, too." With a sigh, he turned to look at Danny. "Right. You good to go?"

Danny, who had been glancing between the two of them skeptically all the while, raised an eyebrow. "That’s... it?" he asked. "What’s the rush? You’ve got this lovely lady to take care of you here. Why not stay awhile?"

Bajillian chuckled, but Sung seemed just a little more opposed to that statement. "Well, if she’s done taking care of me, we’re good to go, right?" he asked. "Don’t you wanna get home?"

"Don’t you wanna get to know our new friend a little better?" Danny asked. "Well, _my_ new friend, and apparently your…" He paused to give Sung a very deliberate look. _"Old friend?"_

Sung let out a sigh. "Excuse me, Bajillian," he said as he popped his chest light back into place. "Could you give us a moment of privacy?"

Bajillian raised her eyebrows, but nodded regardless. "Uh… sure, that’s fine," she said, "Just don’t… break anything in here, okay?" She gave Sung an odd look that he couldn’t quite interpret before she stepped out of the room.

The moment she closed the door, Sung looked back at Danny. "Alright, what’s your deal?"

"What’s _my_ deal?" Danny asked, his arms crossed. "What’s _your_ deal, man? How do you know this girl? Why were you acting so weird?"

Sung huffed. "We just… had a thing for a while," he said, "Before everything, before I even met Havve. But this is before that for her, and she shouldn’t be aware of any of it yet." He sighed as he reached for the front panel to place it back on his chest. "I have to figure out how I’m gonna get her to let me wipe her memory."

"What-- why?" Danny asked. "Why’s it such a big deal? All she knows is that she’s gonna meet you at some point." He paused. "Well… _that,_ and that you were... canoodling, or whatever."

That earned him another slap in the arm from Sung, and the doctor’s face was a little pink when he resumed his work. He had started turning the screws into the front panel by hand. "She wasn’t familiar with me when I met her for the first time, unless she was just doing a really good job of hiding it," he replied. "Which means either this wasn’t supposed to happen, or that I’d already wiped her memory in her timeline." He paused for a moment, a look of realization on his face. "Plus, I... sort of rescued her from the destruction of this planet, so. I don’t need her asking any questions about how we met."

"Oh, shit," Danny said, his playful expression shifting into a much more serious one. "Well… is there anything we could do to help it? Why don’t we tell someone, if we know the planet’s gonna go to shit?"

Immediately, Sung shook his head. "Oh, no, that’s a bad idea," he said. "Is there a screwdriver somewhere?"

Danny blinked. "Oh, uh..." He glanced around the room before he grabbed a screwdriver from a nearby table and passed it over to Sung. "Why’s it a bad idea, though?" he asked. "We should help whoever we can, right?"

"That’s, like, a basic rule of time travel, dude." Sung shrugged, then got to work tightening the screws the rest of the way. "It would change… so much. Bajillian and I spent a lot of time together, we learned a lot from each other. And she’s doing some really good stuff out on her own now, in our current time." He shook his head. "I couldn’t erase all that."

Danny was quiet for a moment, just leaning against the table and watching Sung work. He was trying to build up a bit of courage for his next statement. "Not even to save a whole planet?" he asked. "That seems… kinda selfish, man."

Sung looked up at him then, and Danny couldn’t read much of his expression through the visor, but he could tell Sung wasn’t happy with his comment. "It’s not… it’s not like that." He shook his head. "It’s not that simple. Fucking with big events like that is dangerous. Things can get really messy."

"Yeah?" Danny asked, eyebrows raised. "How messy? What’s the worst that could happen? Some people survive?"

"It’s not _about_ that," Sung replied. "People die, Danny. Species die. It’s the way of the universe."

"Yeah, but some species survive," Danny argued. "You didn’t answer my question. What’s the worst that could happen?"

"Well, for one, I might not have even met the band if I hadn’t spent all that time traveling with her," Sung said, "Havve would still be dead in a cave. Phobos and Meouch… well, one or both of them would likely be dead, too. Furthermore, _we_ would have never met."

Danny huffed. "You think so?" he asked, his voice going a little quiet. "Maybe it’s... for the best, then." There was a brief pause before he shot Sung a look. "You know, so we never end up stuck teleporting to random locations just because your stupid fucking Iron Man battery doesn’t work?"

"My _what?"_ Sung snapped, and slammed the screwdriver down on the table. "I’ll have you know this _stupid battery_ is keeping me alive!"

"Well, why is it trying to fucking strand us, then, huh?" Danny asked. "How are we supposed to get home like this? All that girl did was reattach a wire!"

"Bajillian is incredibly capable," Sung retorted, "She knows what she’s doing." He let out a sigh, and relaxed his shoulders a bit before he pulled the top part of his suit back on. "Don’t bring her into this."

"Whatever," Danny muttered, turning to face away from Sung. He had his arms wrapped around his torso. "Let’s just… do whatever you have to do to this girl, and see if it’ll get us back home now, okay?" After a moment, he added, "Not like we have anything else to lose."

* * *

Sung decided to make Danny wait outside. Partially because he needed to concentrate, but mostly because he didn’t need to hear any comments about anything later.

Bajillian was sat up on the worktable, observing Sung with a careful gaze as he fumbled with the strap of his helmet. Once he’d taken it off and set it down on the table beside her, he looked right into her eyes.

Bajillian blinked, a little startled. "Your eyes are..." she began, but soon trailed off and just... stared at him.

"I know," Sung replied. Of course he knew. There was a reason he kept his helmet on. "I’m sorry, I know this might be… frightening." He stepped a little closer to her. "I know you don’t know me now, but… you will. You’ll trust me in the future. I promise."

Bajillian nodded slowly, more than a little out of it at that point. "Okay," she answered simply.

Sung only hesitated for a moment before he took her face in his hands. With a small flash of blue light from his eyes, her body went limp in his arms, and her memory of the incident was completely erased. Once Sung was sure she was out, he lay her down on the table, put his helmet back on, and scurried out of the room.

Danny was waiting just outside, arms crossed as he leaned against the side of the building. They were in a city that looked awfully familiar, awfully Earth-like, and it made Sung’s chest ache just a tiny bit. He’d heard all about it, sure, and knowing that it was gone to the universe forever always made him a little sad. But actually being there, seeing it for the first time as a lively planet, was a whole different story.

"Are you sure we can’t save this place?" Danny asked without looking back at Sung.

Slowly, Sung moved to stand next to him. "I’m sure," he said. "The repercussions would just be… too much. We can’t mess around with something as integral to our universe’s history as this."

After a moment, Danny gave a solemn nod. He turned to look at Sung, and rested a hand on his arm. "Alright, let’s… try for home this time, yeah?" he asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Bajillian isn't a character of my creation, she's a friend's OC!)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first part of this chapter was posted before, but has since been edited and extended!

Naturally, they didn’t make it home that time. Not even close.

No, after the brief flash of light, Danny and Sung found themselves in a barren desert. Danny wasn’t exactly an ecologist, per se, but the sweltering heat and sand as far as he could see sort of clued him in.

"Great," he said, throwing his hands up in the air. "Perfect. We’re in the goddamn Sahara."

"Well... I wouldn’t say so," Sung replied, hands on his hips as he glanced around the area. "I mean, I can’t say I’ve been, but. I don’t believe this is Africa."

Danny just rolled his eyes. "Are we at least on Earth this time?" he asked.

Sung pointed out towards the horizon. There were two large, distinctly sun-like objects in the sky, one slightly lower than the other. "I’m afraid not."

"Oh, even _better,"_ Danny said. Sung started walking forward, and Danny followed without much thought. "What are we supposed to do, then, huh?" he asked. "Just keep trying at random until we somehow make it to another repair shop? So someone else can do _nothing_ to--"

A loud _oof_ from behind Sung made him stop in his tracks and spin around to face Danny. Instead of his friend, however, he came face-to-face with two tall figures in gas masks. Danny was on the ground, and Sung could only assume the cause of that was the long black batons those figures were wielding.

There was only about half a second of silence before both sides attacked at once.

Sung’s reflexes worked quickly against the blows coming at him, using all four of his limbs (and once, his helmet) in turn to block the batons. It wasn’t long before he was able to swipe one of the batons for himself and use it against them-- just like his nunchucks, right? Just… longer. Singular. Still, he surprised himself with how adept he was with the weapon, continuing to block attacks and occasionally getting his own hits in. It was only when he managed to nab the other baton that the attackers retreated, running off at a speed Sung couldn’t match even if he wanted to.

For a moment he just stood there, catching his breath, watching, making sure they weren’t coming back with reinforcements. When he was sure the coast was clear, and the perimeter was safe, he dropped the batons and knelt down to address the man on the ground.

"Danny?" he spoke softly, reaching down to touch his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Danny was conscious, definitely, but he looked to be a little out of it. He blinked a few times, maybe focusing his vision, before his gaze landed on the man hovering over him.

"Am I… _okay?"_ Danny asked as he moved to sit up, and slapped Sung’s hand away when the doctor tried to help keep him steady. "What the fuck kinda question is that?"

Sung frowned. "Wh… a medically necessary one?" he answered. "They hit you in the head, right? Is your vision okay, can you hear me alright and everything?"

"I just got pelted in the back of the head by fucking… those Star Wars... desert... assholes, or whatever the hell they were. We’re in the middle of nowhere and your shitty teleportation device is still broken. Do you really think I’m _okay?"_

"It’s a simple question, Danny," Sung replied, his voice much more calm in comparison. "If you’re seriously injured, we need to--"

"We need to _what,_ Sung?" Danny snapped. "What are we gonna do? Go back to that dying planet and have your stupid girlfriend fix me up? She didn’t seem to do much for _you,_ did she?"

"What-- she tried her best, man," Sung said. The calmness in his tone was already starting to drop. "She fixed _something,_ at least. Don’t pin this on her."

"For all we know, she could’ve made things worse!" Danny said, "You’re just saying that because she’s hot!" 

"I’m saying that because I know her, and I know that she’s very skilled in what she does!" Sung snapped back. His voice wasn’t quite matching Danny’s in volume, but it was close. "Don’t blame this on her! And stop fucking yelling, unless you want more people to come and try to kill us!"

Danny was finally quiet then, his eyes wide as he stared right into Sung’s visor. Sung could see the emotion in his eyes, very clearly, but it wasn’t anger anymore. It was just fear.

"Listen, I’m… sorry about all this," Sung said as he sat down beside Danny. He kept his voice low. "I’m sorry I put you in danger, whether intentional or not. You don’t deserve this."

Danny didn’t respond at first, just pulling his knees up to his chest. Then, "I just… I wanna go home, Doc," he said, his voice cracking slightly. "I’m tired. Everything hurts."

Sung looked him up and down, trying his best to ignore the dull ache surfacing in his chest.

"Well… we can address that when we’re somewhere safer. Let’s just… try again, okay?" he asked, as gently as he could. "One more."

It took a moment of thought, and a glance at the barren wasteland around him, but Danny finally gave a small nod in reply.

* * *

They found themselves sitting in a dark hallway. It was dead silent, save for the sounds of their breathing. Slowly, Sung stood up, helping Danny along with him. The two of them walked forward very slowly, not wanting to make a sound. Sung felt along the wall until he reached a light switch, and after a moment’s hesitation, he flicked it on.

"Holy shit," Danny whispered, his eyes wide. He knew this building. The pale yellow walls, the dirty, beat-up lockers, the thick wooden doors.

"What?" Sung asked, "What’s wrong?"

"I think this is my old high school." Danny walked forward, taking Sung along with him. He stopped when he found a bulletin board with big letters that read ‘Welcome, Class of ‘98!’ and a group picture below it. He moved his finger along the picture until he landed on a 14-year-old version of himself. "We’re in ‘94. I was a freshman."

Sung seemed just as surprised as Danny was, if not more. "You’re… you’re sure?" he asked.

"Yeah, man, I think I’d recognize my teenage self and the hellhole I spent four years in," Danny said. "Seems like it’s closed, so it’s either just night time or… could be Summer?" He peeked in through the window of a classroom, and found it to be unusually clean. "Yeah, I don’t think anyone’s gonna be coming around here any time soon."

Sung hummed as he looked around, resting his hand over his core. "I had a feeling we were being taken to some… familiar places," he said. "It would make sense, since we met Bajillian. It just seems to be… a few years behind?"

"Over twenty years behind, Doc," Danny replied, "But close." He walked a bit further down the hall, and stopped once again at a door labeled ‘Nurse’. "Do you think you could find anything to help you in here?" he asked as he turned the doorknob, and was surprised to find it unlocked.

"Well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to check," Sung replied, and flicked the lights on as they entered the office. It was a quaint little room, with a few chairs and two vinyl recovery beds with privacy curtains hanging beside them. Off of that room was a small office, as well as what looked like a storage room.

"God, this is bringing back… a lot of weird memories," Danny said as he looked around the room. "The nurse was such a sweet little old lady."

"Were you here often?" Sung asked. He had been half listening, half reading an informational poster about flu prevention.

"Oh yeah, I’d get, like… anxiety cramps and stuff all the time," Danny said. "But that definitely got better as I got older, especially once I graduated."

Sung nodded. "Well, that’s good to hear," he said. "Speaking of which, how are you feeling now? You did get clubbed in the back of the head less than ten minutes ago."

Danny raised his eyebrows. "Oh, uh… I think I’m alright," he answered. "A little nauseous, I guess."

Sung took a glance towards one of the beds. "Well, I could check you out, while we have a decent environment to do so."

Danny shrugged and moved to sit down at the edge of the bed Sung had been looking at. "Go for it."

Sung took a seat down beside him, and reached around towards the back of his head to search for any signs of injury. "Do you remember what happened?" he asked.

"Yeah, we were walking through the desert place, I… we were kinda arguing, I think," Danny said. "And then I felt this pain in the back of my--" He winced when Sung’s hand brushed over a tender spot. "Yeah, that."

"Sorry," Sung said, "You don’t seem to have bled, so that’s good. I can look for an ice pack or something in a minute."

Sung asked him a lot more questions as he poked and prodded around his head, and Danny didn’t really mind all that much. He was just happy to be in a relaxed environment for once, and not being smacked in the back of the head by hostile aliens. There was a bit of a quiet spell while Sung detached the little flashlight from his helmet and flicked it on.

"Focus on the wall behind me or something," Sung said before he pointed the light at one of Danny’s eyes. Then, "Do you… still have issues with anxiety?"

Danny raised his eyebrows. "Is this a formal check-up?" he asked. "I thought you were, like, a fake doctor."

"Wh… a fake doctor?" Sung asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah, like… you don’t actually have a doctorate, do you?" Danny asked. "You’re smart and all, but I figured it was just part of the whole... persona thing."

Sung scoffed. "Just because I don’t have a fancy piece of Earth paper doesn’t mean I’m not a capable physician," he said. "I have several degrees, just not in human medicine. But I’ve studied, and picked some stuff up along the way, and I like to think I know my stuff. Answer the question, would you?"

Danny chuckled. "Yeah, yeah, I get anxious sometimes," he answered. "How long are you gonna keep shining that light directly into my eye?"

"I can’t see anything with my visor," Sung said with a huff. "Hold on."

Danny felt a little jolt of panic when he saw Sung going for the strap of his helmet. "Wait, what are you doing?" he asked.

"I told you, I can’t see well enough through the visor. I’ve had this thing on for too long, anyway, it’s giving me a headache." Sung paused. "Just... don’t look me right in the eye, and we should be fine."

Danny tried to look away when Sung slipped his helmet off, but he found the temptation to be too strong. Despite having seen the bottom half of the man’s face, he was still surprised at how… distinctly human Sung looked. He had dirty blond hair that ended in short curls, and a pretty standard facial structure, save for his slightly pointed ears. His eyes, though… Danny felt oddly drawn to them. They were _very_ blue, and Danny wasn’t sure if it was just the possible concussion, but he swore he could see Sung’s irises shifting between different shades of the color.

"Hey, are you with me?" Sung asked. Danny wasn’t sure how long Sung had been snapping his fingers in front of his face, but it managed to get his attention eventually. "I said _don’t_ look me in the eye. Look at the wall for now."

Danny did as he was asked, but found it very hard to focus while Sung was examining his eyes again. He wasn’t sure what the fuck was going on, but it was _weird._ He still felt a strange pull towards Sung’s eyes, and he was more than a little relieved when Sung flicked the light back off and turned away.

"Okay, I don’t think you have any sort of serious head injury," Sung said as he went towards the storage room. "But you should rest while you can. Do you want that ice pack?"

Danny took a moment to respond, and by the time he did, Sung was already in the next room. "Your eyes are..."

"I know," Sung replied, sounding almost amused as he searched the room. "Don’t worry about it right now. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to ask questions while we figure out how the fuck to get home."

At that point, Danny was too worn out to argue, so he decided to just lie down and let his mind take a rest. Sung came back a couple minutes later with an ice pack, which Danny placed carefully on the back of his head.

"Where would be the closest, ah… janitor’s closet?" Sung asked, looking towards the door. He still hadn’t put his helmet back on. "I’m gonna look for some tools."

"Uh… right across the hall," Danny answered. "Don’t steal too much or they’ll accuse the students or something."

"Sure thing, be right back," Sung said before he ventured out into the hallway once again. Danny, reasonably exhausted, found himself dozing off in the bed.


	5. Chapter 5

Danny wasn’t sure how long he’d been sleeping, but when he woke up, the first thing he saw was Sung sitting on the bed across from him. He was reading a pamphlet, and it took Danny a moment to read the title on the front-- _Safe Sex & You: How to Properly Protect Yourself._

"Uh… Sung?" Danny said, but was quick to glance away when Sung looked back at him. "What the fuck are you doing, dude?"

"Oh, just some light reading," Sung replied, glancing down at the pamphlet cover. "It’s interesting. I wasn’t really aware that sex could be dangerous?"

Danny blinked. "Wh-- I mean, not if you’re… doing it right," he said.

"Oh?" Sung asked, "Then why is there a whole pamphlet explaining how to be safe?"

"Well… you get, like… you know, infections and stuff. If you’re not careful, and…" Danny paused. This wasn’t important at all. "Did you fix your core yet?"

Sung set his light reading aside in favor of grabbing a toolbox he’d left on the floor. "Oh, no, I was waiting for you to wake up," he said. "I need you to hold onto me while I do this in case I fuck up and transport myself somewhere else. And I didn’t wanna just grab you in your sleep, you looked relaxed."

"Alright," Danny said with a sigh as he stood from the bed. "Are you gonna make me hold stuff again?"

"Of course," Sung replied, and reached down to prop up the bed before he lay back against it. "There’s a mirror in the bathroom, mind grabbing it off the wall?"

"We’d better get this place back in order before we leave," Danny muttered as he walked off towards the bathroom.

The positioning was a little awkward, but as long as Danny could look away, he really didn’t care. He sat on the edge of the bed beside a reclined Sung, holding the mirror up at an angle so that Sung could see what he was working on. While Danny waited, he looked over a poster on the wall titled _‘Lice Are Not Nice.’_

"What was Earth like in the 1990s?" Sung asked after a little while.

Danny decided to keep his focus on the poster when he answered. "Not much different than it is now," he said, "Or… back home, I guess. Just less advanced technology, society was a little different." He shrugged. "You weren’t around for it?"

"Nah," Sung answered, "I dropped in around... 2010? Just for a while, then skipped a few years before I came back here with the band."

"Makes sense," Danny said. "What were you up to in 2010?"

He couldn’t see Sung’s face, but the long silence clued him in that something might be wrong with that question.

"Just… finding myself, I suppose," Sung answered. "Was right after I built my core, it kinda threw me there. So I stuck around while I made my adjustments to it."

"Guess it wanted to come back to the past again, huh?" Danny said, and they shared a little half-hearted laugh. "Have you figured out what’s wrong with it?"

"Hard to say," Sung replied. "I might have to do some more… intensive maintenance, but I’d feel better if I had someone to assist me."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "Well, I’d say I’m helping--"

"Someone who would be more willing to stick their hands into my chest cavity," Sung clarified, and the statement alone made Danny feel nauseous.

"Mm. Nevermind."

"I figured," Sung said. "It’s fine. I can figure something out."

Danny nodded, but couldn’t help feeling kinda bad about the whole thing. "Maybe… I mean, has anyone else worked on it before?" he asked. "Maybe if it’s taking us to familiar places, you can find someone by just letting it do its thing."

"Hm. I mean… Bajillian’s worked on it before," he said, "Phobos, too. But it would have to take us to a time after I’d met them, which means we have a chance of meeting myself from the past, and… I’m not sure."

Danny shrugged. "Well, it’s gonna take us wherever it’s gonna take us," he said. "Might as well just keep going."

Sung chuckled. "Wow, that nap really brightened up your disposition, huh?" he asked.

"Hey, I’m still exhausted," Danny said. "When we get back home, I’m taking a long break."

"That’s perfectly understandable," Sung replied. "I was thinking… while we’re safe here, maybe we should just spend the night. Get some real rest in, and try to travel again in the morning."

Danny took a moment to think about that. He was still looking at the lice poster, staring without much focus. "I guess that couldn’t hurt," he said. "A good night’s sleep would be nice."

Danny took a seat on the bed he'd been on before. He noticed Sung pull on the privacy curtain before he settled down on the other bed, using it to block his face from Danny's line of sight. He flicked the lights off, and it was quiet for a good few minutes before Danny's curiosity got the best of him.

"So... what's with your eyes, anyway?" he asked. "They're very, um..."

"Mesmerizing?"

"I was... gonna say 'distracting,' but that works, too," Danny said. "What's the deal?"

Sung rolled over onto his back. "It's a natural trait of my species," he answered. "They have a certain... hypnotic property to them. I can usually keep it under control well enough to not be knocking out everyone who looks in my general direction, but I prefer to keep them covered to avoid making anyone feel... weird."

Danny nodded to himself, slowly taking that information in. "The little blue guy at the hotel--"

"Yes, that's what I meant by 'persuasive,'" Sung interjected. "I made them walk away and forget meeting us altogether."

"I guess that... makes sense," Danny mumbled. He hesitated, not quite sure whether or not he wanted to know the answer to his next question. "Have you ever... used those kinds of powers on me?" he asked.

"No," Sung answered without hesitation. "I would never do that without your permission. I only use that ability when it's necessary for the safety and well-being of myself or those I care about."

Danny nodded again, despite the fact that Sung still couldn't see him. "Okay," he said, "Good."

Things were quiet for a while after that. Danny thought Sung must've fallen asleep until he heard his voice once again.

"Do you trust me, Danny?"

Danny furrowed his brow. "Wh... yeah, I trust you," he said, "Of course I do." He glanced over at the curtain, where he assumed Sung's face was. "Why do you ask?"

"I just... get a little worried sometimes, is all," Sung replied.

"Worried about what?"

Sung let out a sigh. "That I come off as, like... creepy. Unapproachable."

"Well, I think you're very friendly," Danny answered. "Trustworthy. You may seem a little... overbearing at times, but I know you've got good intentions. I can't fault you for trying to help others."

"That's... very nice of you to say," Sung replied. "Thank you."

"Of course, buddy," Danny said. He had a smile on his face as he rolled onto his other side, ready to settle down for the night, but Sung wasn't quite done with the conversation yet.

"You've been a very good friend to me," Sung said. "I don't know where the rest of the band and I would be without you guys."

"Probably still lost in a sea of confusion about human customs," Danny said, and Sung chuckled. "But you guys are great, too. It gets a little lonely when it's just me and Brian, so I'm happy to have you around."

Sung hummed. Danny noticed one of Sung’s legs was shaking up and down, like a nervous tic. "I really hope we can get home," Sung said. "Best case scenario, we get right back to where we left off, and it'll be like we never left."

"I hope so, too," Danny said. "I was gonna ask if you think the others are worried about us, but... well, they'll only do that if we never get back, right? I don't really get how the whole time travel thing works, but."

Sung nodded. "Yeah, as long as we get back to the right time, they shouldn't even realize we're gone." His leg stopped shaking when he rolled over onto his side. "I'm gonna try to get some rest."

"Yeah... yeah, me too," Danny said. "Night, man."

"Goodnight."

* * *

Sung awoke just a few hours later. He didn't need nearly as much sleep as the average human would, so he woke up feeling well-rested and refreshed. He wanted to tinker with his core some more to see if he could figure anything out, so as carefully as he could, he sat down at the edge of Danny's bed. He rested his back against the other man's hip as he worked away, leaving the mirror in his lap to get a better visual of the inside.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed when Danny woke up, but he seemed a little disoriented. "Hm... did you fix it yet?" he asked as he rubbed his tired eyes.

"Not sure," Sung answered. He screwed his front panel back on and reached for his helmet to put that on as well. "Wanna try again?"

"I don't think we have much of a choice," Danny muttered. "Make sure you put shit away before we leave."

"Ah, yes." Once he had his helmet on, Sung placed the mirror back up on the bathroom wall. He stepped out to put all the tools back where he found them, and when he came back, Danny looked a bit more awake than before. "Ready to go, buddy?" he asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Danny said. He put a hand on Sung's arm, and with that, they were gone.


	6. Chapter 6

They found themselves in the middle of a street.

Danny’s eyes were wide as he pushed himself to sit up. Street? Street. It looked like a pretty regular neighborhood, very much like what he was used to. Maybe they’d gotten back to Earth somehow?

Sung sat up soon after, holding a hand over his chest. “Did we do it?” he asked, his voice a little strained.

“I think so?” Danny froze when he got a look at Sung. The fabric under the hand on his chest was stained red, seeping into an even bigger stain. “Oh, shit, are you okay?”

Sung, a little confused, glanced down at his chest. _Ah._ “Oh, uh… maybe not,” he said with a little nervous chuckle. He looked up at the houses around them. Traditional style, early 20th century. “Are we back on Earth?”

“God, I hope so.” Danny let out a sigh as he stood up, then offered Sung a hand. “C’mon, can you stand? We should see if we can get some help.” He helped Sung up onto his feet, still glancing around the area, and his expression dropped when he saw a distinctly non-human being coming out of one of the houses. A very pink, very tall man(?) with stark black eyes and small brown horns protruding from his skull. Despite his very alien appearance, he wore round glasses and what looked like a standard business suit. “Well, shit,” Danny muttered. Not Earth, then.

“What? What is it?” Sung was a little unsteady as he got to his feet, then spotted the alien as well. “Ah, shit.”

The alien saw them and immediately rushed into the street towards them. “Excuse me, sir, do you need help?” he asked, in surprisingly perfect English. “You’re bleeding.”

“Yeah, you don’t think he’s aware of that?” Danny asked, earning a smack on the arm from Sung.

“Be nice, he’s just trying to help,” Sung said. He turned to look at the alien. “Ah, no thank you, we can handle ourselves just fine.”

“What?” Danny questioned, “Dude, what are you--”

“Please, I’m a doctor,” the alien interjected, “I’m sure I can do something to help.”

“Oh? How convenient, so am I.” Sung crossed his arms over his still-bleeding chest. “Really, we’ve got this.” He let out a little yelp when Danny grabbed his arm and spun him around to face away from the alien. He nearly lost his balance but managed to catch himself on Danny’s shoulder.

“Hey, asshole, remember that time I almost got killed by desert thugs?” Danny asked, in somewhat of a yell-whisper. “If you die, I’m kinda screwed. So I’d really appreciate it if you’d just accept this guy’s help.“

Sung frowned, looking a bit uneasy (both emotionally and physically) as he glanced back at the alien. “No one knows this technology as well as I do,” he said. “It’s very complex.”

“You’re going all pale, dude,” Danny replied. “You’re literally bleeding from the core. What other chance do we have here?”

Sung let out a long sigh before he finally just gave in and nodded in agreement. “Alright, fine,” he grumbled, “Let’s trust the stranger with my life, I guess.”

The walk into the house was a little stressful, to say the least, what with Sung getting progressively faint and somehow still refusing any assistance from the friendly stranger. They did manage to get inside eventually, with Danny dragging Sung along by then. The inside of the house, just like the outside, looked distinctly Earthly in origin.

“Please, just down this way,” the stranger said as he opened a door, then started to lead them down a flight of stairs. “My name is Dr. Cornelius Harp, pleased to make your acquaintance.” He paused to glance back at the man stumbling down the stairs. “Even under… such grim circumstances.”

“It’s fine, I’ve probably had worse first impressions,” Danny said with a nod. “I’m Danny. This is Sung.”

Dr. Harp simply nodded in acknowledgment, and once they made it down the flight of stairs, he opened another door. They stepped into what looked like a lab, strongly resembling Sung’s section of their basement.

“Aw, see, Doc?” Danny asked, giving his dizzy friend a little reassuring pat on the back. “He’s just like you. Creepy basement and all.”

Despite the dizziness, Sung managed to shoot Danny a glare that Danny could practically feel through his visor. That was only about two seconds before Sung’s body dropped, and Danny had to scramble to catch him. Harp rushed to his side as well, eyeing the blood stain on the front of Sung’s suit.

“Alright, okay, can you fix him or not?” Danny asked, the playfulness completely gone from his tone. He sounded much more panicked.

“Yes, well… I can try,” Harp replied, and nodded towards a table in the center of the room. “Over here.”

Sung was down for the count, it seemed, his body completely limp as they carried him over to the table. Once he was lying flat up there, Harp reached for Sung’s helmet, and Danny put a hand up in protest.

“Wait, uh. I don’t think you wanna do that,” he said.

Harp frowned. “Why not?”

“Well...” Danny paused. How much information should he disclose about Sung? “He doesn’t take it off. Ever. Even around his closest friends.”

Harp let out a sigh. “Very well,” he said. “I will respect his wishes. Though, I do ask that you leave the room while I work.”

Danny furrowed his brow. “What? No!” he protested. “Why?”

“In order to save his life, I’ll need to concentrate,” Harp replied. “Having someone so close to him watching my every move is, frankly, terrible for that. It’s only going to cause more stress for the both of us.” He pointed towards the door. “Please step out for now.”

Danny hesitated, his gaze flickering between his dying friend on the table and the suspicious man standing over him. After a moment, he shook his head. “I… I don’t--”

“Hey, what’s going on?”

At the sound of a distinctly feminine voice, Danny whipped around to look. His eyes went wide at the sight of a beautiful alien woman in a skin-tight white suit. She was definitely the same species as Harp, but somehow, features that were grotesque and strange on him were absolutely beautiful on her. Skin pink like cotton candy, eyes black like the vastness of space, body rockin’--

“Xanthippe, I asked you not to bother me when I am with a patient,” Harp spoke, harshly interrupting the start of what surely would’ve been some sort of sexual fantasy.

“How was I supposed to know you were with a patient?” the woman, Xanthan-whatever-her-name-was, asked. “I just heard voices and wanted to know what was up. Are you all good here?”

Harp just grumbled, looking down at the still-dying man in front of him. After a moment, however, he looked back up with a friendly smile. “Actually, Xanthippe, would you please provide this man with some refreshments upstairs?” he asked. “He’s under a lot of stress right now, I’m sure he’d appreciate it.”

“I guess,” she replied with a shrug. She looked to Danny, who was still lost in her eyes. “Come on, mophead.” She gestured with her fingers before she started up the stairs, and Danny just about floated after her.

The kitchen was just as strangely human as the rest of the place; a refrigerator and stove next to white marble countertops, with a little breakfast bar that stuck out in the center of the room. Danny had been sitting there for a few minutes, his chin in his hands as he watched the beautiful alien woman working at the counter.

“So, uh… Xanax, was it?” Danny asked. The woman turned around after a moment, blinked a few times, and returned to the counter. Danny shook his head. No, not quite. “What was it, uh… Xan… Xanadu?”

“Just ‘Xan’ is fine,” she replied, rather abruptly. “My name is ridiculous, anyway, I know.”

“What? No, no, I think it’s beautiful,” Danny replied, a dreamy look on his face. “Xan...archy. Right?”

“Xanarchy?” she echoed, spinning around to face him fully. “Okay, I have to say, that’s a new one, but no.” Danny looked awfully disappointed, but that quickly turned into curiosity when she picked up a plate from the counter. As she placed it down in front of Danny, it became immediately apparent that she had spent all that time making… a sandwich. “Here. He said you needed food, right?”

“A… sandwich?” Danny asked, his brow furrowed as he looked up at her. “That’s it? No… cool alien stuff?”

“I don’t know what that is, but no.” Xan turned around to start cleaning up the counter. “This planet has a perception filter that makes everything you interact with more familiar, like your home planet. Hence why you can understand me right now.”

Danny nodded slowly, still staring down at the sandwich. “Wait, but… how come you don’t look human to me, then?” he asked. “You’re all… pink.”

Xan made a face at that. “So are a lot of humans,” she said. “But the perception filter doesn’t work on people. Otherwise, any foreigners who came here would be very confused.”

“Right, okay,” Danny said. “I… guess that makes sense. Sort of.” He looked down at his meal for a few more moments before he carefully picked it up, then took a bite out of it. “Oh, fuck,” he said, his mouth full, “It even tastes like a sandwich!”

“Glad you’re catching on.” Xan leaned on the counter across from him and waited until he finished chewing before she spoke up again. “What’s your name, anyway?”

“I’m Danny,” he said, a grin on his face. “Can you say that one?”

“Yes.” Xan blinked. “Danny.”

“Yeah, you got it,” Danny said with a chuckle. “You’re pretty good, Xa… no, it’s not Xylophone.”

“It’s not.”

Danny sighed. “I’m sorry,” he said. “You’re just… you know, you’re so beautiful, I’m getting tongue-tied.”

“A common problem. Are you gonna eat that or not?”

Danny raised his eyebrows. “Will you tell me your name again?” he asked.

Xan rolled her eyes. It was hard to tell, since they were stark black, but Danny could just barely make out the movement. She leaned in a little closer and spoke very carefully. “Xanthippe.”

Danny nodded, leaning in a little more himself. “Xan...than...”

She shook her head. “Xanthippe.”

Danny gave her a little smile, his gaze flickering down towards her lips. “Xan...thippe?” he tried, tilting his head to the side as he moved in closer. He could feel his heart pounding away in his chest, raring to go-- but he certainly wasn’t expecting a slap in the face.

“Ew, what are you doing?” Xan snapped, standing up straight once again.

Danny blinked, a hand on his stinging cheek. “Wh… I thought we were having a moment,” he said. “You were… you looked like you wanted to kiss me.”

“What-- no!” Xan crossed her arms. “We just met, you dolt. What would make you think that?”

“I… you were getting really close to me?” Danny said.

“Isn’t your friend, like, dying downstairs, or something?” Xan asked. “And you think you’re gonna score here?”

Danny frowned as he looked towards the kitchen doorway. “Well… that guy knows what he’s doing, right?” he asked. “I’m trying to think positively here.”

As if on cue, Harp appeared in that doorway. He looked… distinctly unhappy, and Danny sat up just a little bit straighter at the sight. “What is it?” he asked. “What happened?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have an end in mind for this fic, it's just a matter of finding the time and motivation to write! either way, it should only be a few more chapters.


	7. Chapter 7

Sung’s body was still. Pale. He had a fresh scar running down his chest. His helmet was off, which it definitely shouldn’t have been, but Danny was far too distracted to be angry. There was an ache in his chest, enough to make him cringe, and he felt his eyes welling up with tears.

“Oh god,” he whispered, his voice barely there. “Oh, fuck. Dude, there’s gotta be something you can do, he can’t just…” He shook his head. “He can’t die, he’s, like, immortal or something, right?” He looked to Xan, tears forming in his eyes. “That’s what that means, right?”

“I’m sorry, Danny,” Harp said once again, very calmly. “Most immortal beings are still susceptible to fatal injury. His body simply isn’t functioning anymore.”

Danny breathed in a shaky breath, and was making a huge effort to not just break down where he stood. He opened and closed his mouth, but really, wasn’t sure what else he could say at that point. Sung was just… gone. 

“You’re welcome to stay here and keep him comfortable until his body shuts down completely,” Harp said, pulling Danny from his spiraling thoughts. “Xanthippe, please keep an eye on him. I’m very late for my work and I need to leave.”

He gave Danny a gentle pat on the back before he left the room without another word. Danny watched him go, his eyes still wide in disbelief.

What was he supposed to do? Even if he found a way home, he’d have to explain to his bandmates what happened. How would he tell them? How would they tell the fans? There’s no way they could explain--

“Danny?” Xan spoke softly, but still made him jump. “I’m gonna go… get you some water, okay? You’re looking a little pale.”

Danny nodded slowly, wrapping his arms around himself. He’d like a moment alone, anyway. He watched Xan step away, then whipped his head around when he heard a sound from the table in the middle of the room.

“Sung?” Danny squeaked, running over to the side of the table and effectively scaring the shit out of his friend.

Sung was, in fact, alive, and shushed Danny as he glanced towards the door. “Close the door,” he whispered, “I don’t want them to hear us.”

Danny, still considerably shaken up, walked over to do as he was asked. Once he’d closed the door, he did an urgent little walk back over to Sung. He was careful not to look him in the eye, and stared down at his core instead. “Harp said you were... _dead,”_ he managed, his voice cracking.

Sung sighed. “I pretended to be and he bought it, which means he’s a pretty shitty doctor,” he said. “He ran off with one of my power sources, that fucker.”

“Oh man,” Danny said, eyeing the scar on Sung’s chest. “Is there anything you need? What can I do to help?”

A knock on the door made them both jump, and Sung went limp on the table again just in time for Xan to re-enter the room.

“Hey, how are you doing?” she asked as she approached Danny, offering him a glass of water.

Danny wasn’t quite sure how to respond, so he just occupied his mouth by drinking from the glass.

“I’m… I’m really sorry,” Xan said, “My father, he… he has a tendency to swindle people out of their spare parts. He must’ve taken something pretty vital.”

With that, Sung sprung up from his position, causing Xan to yelp and poor Danny to choke on his water. 

“Why the _fuck_ didn’t you say anything?” Sung asked, “He could’ve killed me!”

“Wh… I-I’m sorry,” Xan repeated herself, shaking her head. “I’m… glad you’re alive?”

“Yeah, me too,” Sung muttered, and put a hand over his chest as he lay back down. He was still looking awfully weak.

Xan let out a sigh. “Look,” she said, “My father… definitely thinks you’re dead. If you guys can get out of here, I can tell him Danny left with your body and he won’t ask any questions.”

Danny raised his eyebrows and looked back at Sung. _“Can_ we get out of here?” he asked.

Sung shrugged. “I’m pretty weak, but I can survive without that power source for a while,” he said. “I’m just running on backup power.”

Danny nodded and turned to Xanthippe. “Will you come with us?”

Before she had the chance to answer, Sung chimed in. “Danny, we are not kidnapping this woman from her home,” he said, “I love a good rescue mission, but now’s not the time. We’d only be putting her in danger.”

Danny frowned, but Xan nodded in agreement. “I’ll be okay,” she said, “You just get home safe, alright?”

“Okay,” Danny said with a nod. “I’ll… come back for you, alright? As soon as I can.”

Xan raised an eyebrow. “You can try your best,” she said. ”But, really, I’m okay. I’m an adult, I can take care of myself.”

“You heard the lady,” Sung said, reaching his arm out towards Danny. “Let’s go.”

Danny offered Xan somewhat of a bittersweet smile before he took Sung’s hand. “Let’s go.”

* * *

Danny found himself to be quite disoriented when he came to, but figured he didn’t have it as bad as the groaning Sung beside him. 

“Hey… buddy, you okay?” he asked, and the groaning came to an abrupt stop. Sung was lying right beside him, a hand clutching his chest.

“Just… hurts,” Sung answered, his voice strained. ”I think Doctor… whatever the fuck, he did some damage on his way inside.”

“Well… well what can I do to help?” Danny asked. It was only then that he looked around them, and realized that they were in some sort of medical room. “Are we… hey, I think we’re in a hospital or something.” He rested a hand on Sung’s shoulder. “Can you use any of the stuff here?”

“We’re in my old medbay,” Sung answered. “On my ship. The core is still trying to bring us somewhere helpful. But I have no idea where in my timeline we are, and if we meet me, that could cause trouble.”

“Oh, shit,” Danny said as he moved to stand up. He realized the room was, in fact, pretty reminiscent of Sung’s lab, like a futuristic infirmary with supplies scattered about. “What do we do?”

“Well, for one, I think I’m dying,” Sung said, and Danny whipped his head around to face him again. “So maybe we could address that.”

Danny crouched down next to Sung again, looking him up and down. He was still so pale, and just… sort of sickly looking. “What should I do?” he asked, his eyes wide. “What do you need?”

“First of all, relax,” Sung said, “You’re not helping me by freaking out. Second, I need contact. Touch. It won’t solve everything, but it’s good for me.”

“Contact?” Danny echoed. “Okay, uh...” With Sung’s permission, he propped him up into a sitting position, then pulled him over towards a nearby wall. He sat up against the wall so that Sung could lean against him, and wrapped his arms around his torso.

Sung was quiet at first, just leaning against Danny with his eyes closed. Then, “We left my helmet behind.”

“We can get you another one,” Danny said. “What matters now is that you’re okay.”

It took a few minutes, but Danny finally built up the courage to speak again.

“Does this really... help?” he asked.

“Huh?” Sung shifted a little, and Danny saw his eyes open out of the corner of his sight. “Yeah. You know, if everything’s… calm from an emotional standpoint, that does wonders for my physical health. It’s just how my body works.”

Danny nodded. He wasn’t sure when, but at some point, he’d started rubbing Sung’s upper arm. “I… kinda relate to that, on some level.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Sometimes I feel like I’m a lot more… emotionally sensitive than everyone else,” Danny said. “A bad day can really fuck me up.”

“Hm… that makes sense,” Sung replied. “I can see that.” After a beat, he let out a soft laugh. “If you have another bad day, I’m always here for a cuddle. Now that we’ve crossed that barrier and all.”

Danny managed a little smile at that, nodding in response. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he said.

Another few minutes of silence. At some point during that time, Sung had adjusted himself so that his legs were lying across Danny’s lap and his head was resting on his chest. Danny didn’t mind-- it was comfortable. Despite Sung’s paleness, his body was warm. And after all the stress they’d been through, it was nice to just relax for a while.

“Do you ever find yourself having… physical reactions to those bad days?” Sung asked.

Danny took a second to process the question. “What, like… feeling sick and stuff?”

Sung nodded. “Yeah, sorta,” he said. “Most humans feel like that sometimes, to an extent, but you said you’d struggled with anxiety aches in the past, and I noticed you complaining of pains like that before. So I was just…”

Danny furrowed his brow when he trailed off. “Just... what?”

After a moment, Sung shook his head. “Now’s… not the time for that discussion, I’m sorry,” he said, and shifted to sit up straight again. “We should start looking for something that can help us.”

Danny squinted at Sung-- well, Sung’s shoulder, since he still couldn’t quite look him in the eye-- but complied nonetheless. “Uh, what are we supposed to do if… you from the past comes along?”

Sung shrugged as he stood, then started pulling the top half of his suit back on. “I dunno, distract him? You should keep watch by the door.”

Despite the concept of running into another Sung being terribly anxiety-inducing, Danny did as he was asked and stood by the door. He thought he would be prepared for the worst, but when a second Sung did, in fact, open the door, he just froze in place.

Sung 2(?) was dressed very casually, but was wearing a pair of visor shades that Danny often saw Sung wearing instead of his helmet. The second Sung didn’t really react at first, just tilting his head to the side and looking a very alarmed Danny up and down. 

“I’m sorry, do you… have an appointment?” he asked. “How did you get in here?”

Danny stuttered, trying to form some sort of excuse as the new (old?) Sung looked around the room. His gaze eventually landed on the other Sung looking through his supplies, and he crossed his arms. “What the fuck are you doing here?” he asked.

Current Sung whipped around and offered himself a nervous smile. “Okay, hear me out,” he said. “I’m from your future. This is Danny, he’s also from your future. We’re stranded, the core is fucked and I need another power source. I know you have an extra because I was you at one point in time, so I need your help.”

Angry-looking Sung was also looking awfully suspicious. “How do I know I can trust you?” he asked.

“It’s… he’s literally you,” Danny said, finally able to speak properly. “What is there not to trust?”

“I don’t know where technology is at wherever you’re from,” suspicious Sung said. “He could be disguising himself.”

Current, now slightly agitated Sung let out a huff as he walked over to his counterpart. He gestured him closer before he whispered something into his ear that made Past Sung put a hand over his mouth. ”Okay… _fine,_ you’re me,” he said. “What do you need?”

“Wait, okay, before this all… gets started here,” Danny said, holding his hands up. “I can’t just call for Sung and get both of you to answer. How am I supposed to distinguish?”

Current Sung glanced between them. “Sung,” he said, pointing to himself. Then, to the other, “Doc?”

“Wh… how come you get to be Sung?” Doc asked.

Sung paused to think about that. “Because this is my story. Now, I have no recollection of this event, which means I probably have to wipe your memory of the incident when we’re done here. Are you alright with that?”

“How can you be sure I’m from your past?” Doc asked. “Maybe _you’re_ the one from the past.”

“Well, that’s easy,” Sung said, and reached up to ruffle Danny’s hair. “You don’t remember this guy.”

Danny furrowed his brow as he looked up at Sung’s hand. “Aren’t you dying or something?”

“Not yet,” Sung said with a smile before he turned to Doc. “So, are you in? Your future is sort of on the line, so.”

Doc shrugged. “I… suppose,” he said.

Danny watched as Sung jumped up onto the table in the middle of the room, in a way that he thought seemed just a bit too eager. “Wait, but… if this is your past self, couldn't he just… I don’t know, stop this all from happening in the first place?” Danny asked.

Both Doc and Sung just stared at Danny for a moment, as if he’d said the dumbest thing they’ve ever heard.

Danny just frowned. “What?” 

“That would be... incredibly dangerous, Danny,” Sung explained. “You can’t just fuck around with the past. This is why I was hesitant to meet him in the first place. And that’s why I have to wipe his memory when this is all over with. He’s going to have to experience this himself, but another version of us will be around to help him like he is with me. Make sense?”

Danny blinked. “Not… really,” he admitted.

“Well, do you trust me?” Sung asked as he unzipped the back of his suit again. “...Us?”

“I… yeah,” Danny answered with a little nod. “I do.”

“Perfect,” Sung said with a smile before he turned to Doc. “Ready to go?”

Doc was frowning, his arms crossed as he looked back at Sung. “Did you...” He trailed off, gesturing towards his own chest.

“Oh, yeah,” Sung said as he glanced down. “Don’t worry about it, everything went okay. You have an extra power source, right?”

“I do,” Doc answered, and went looking through his cabinets and shelves while Sung started to unscrew the panel in his chest. Danny took a seat at a desk nearby, since all he could do at that point was wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is my longest fic on ao3 now so that's cool. we're almost done here, so let me know what you think!


	8. Chapter 8

It took a lot of convincing, but Sung eventually agreed to be anesthetized for the procedure. He decided he trusted his past self and Danny enough to not be fully alert and giving careful instructions the entire time. Danny tried to keep himself occupied at the desk while he waited, since the sight of Sung sticking his hands inside of his alternate self’s chest would probably be a lot to take in.

Danny was fine sitting this one out, as fine as he could be. He was fine just keeping quiet. However, in a true Doctor Sung fashion, Doc had to try to make conversation.

“So… are you my future lover, or what?” he asked.

At first, Danny didn’t even process the question. Slowly, the gears in his tired brain started working, and he managed to respond. “Uh… no,” he said. “We’re, uh. Friends.”

Doc hummed in response. “You care about me, right?” he asked. “I can see it.”

“Well, yeah, of course,” Danny said. He’d found a pen in one of the desk drawers, and had started idly twirling it around his fingers. “What are you implying?”

“I’m not implying anything,” Doc answered. “It’s just… nice to know I’ll have that, is all.”

Danny furrowed his brow. He wasn’t facing the table, but he could hear the sadness in Doc’s tone. “You’ve got a lot of people who care about you, man,” Danny said. “A lot of good friends looking out for you. I dunno how much I’m allowed to... spoil, or whatever, but. Life is good. You’ll be okay.”

“He’s gonna wipe my memory, anyway,” Doc said, “Which is probably for the best. But it would be nice to be left with some of that, ah… hope. If you can figure out a way to do that.”

Danny nodded. “I can definitely try to figure something out,” he said. “Something that won’t change the course of your future too much, anyway. I don’t know this stuff too well.”

For a few minutes, the room was quiet again, and Danny took a quick peek behind him. Once he caught a glimpse of Doc elbow-deep in Sung’s chest, he decided it would be best to look away again. “Uh… how are things coming along?” he asked.

“Good,” Doc answered. “He’s… well, he hasn’t changed much in here, things are just a little more organized. So that makes things a little easier.”

“Uh huh,” Danny replied. He wasn’t quite sure what was in there that needed to be organized, but he didn’t want to think too much about it. Instead, he just kept waiting patiently and fidgeting with the pen.

Danny didn’t remember falling asleep, but woke up some time later to someone gently shaking his shoulder. He was greeted with the sight of a cheery Sung, and for a moment, his foggy brain thought he had dreamed up the entire incident.

“Hey, you with us?” Sung asked. “You can sleep when we get home, okay?”

Danny spun around in his chair to see Doc cleaning up the table. Right, this was a real thing that was happening. Stranded in the past. Two Sungs. That whole mess.

“You’re… okay?” Danny asked as he looked to the other Sung. “Good to go?”

“Everything should be in tip-top shape,” Sung replied with a smile. “I just have to wipe his memory real quick.” He got a little quieter. “But I think he… wanted to say goodbye first.”

Doc looked up from the table, and Danny stood from his seat. “Hey, uh… thanks for your help,“ Danny said, “Really. We’d actually be fucked without you.”

“Well, I’m not sure how much thanks are in order if I’m saving myself,” Doc said with a chuckle. “But… you’re welcome anyway. It’s been a pleasure meeting you, and… I’m excited to do so again.”

Danny nodded. “Same to you,” he said. “Past me is also very excited to meet you.”

Doc smiled, but his smile seemed a little… sad. After a long pause, he spoke again. “Could I… would it be weird if I asked for a hug?” he asked.

Danny raised his eyebrows. “Nah, it wouldn’t be weird,” he said, then looked to Sung. “That wouldn’t fuck anything up, would it?”

“Considering he just had his hands all over my innards, I’d say you’re fine,” Sung answered.

“Oh… cool.” Danny cleared his throat and pushed that visual right out of his mind before he walked towards Doc with open arms. “C’mere, buddy.”

Doc seemed a little hesitant as he stepped forward, but held on tight when he made it into Danny’s arms. Danny let him take his time, just rubbing Doc’s back until he pulled away.

“Okay… I’m ready,” Doc told Sung. “Do it.”

“Okay,” Sung said with a nod. “Let’s head out there, I don’t need Danny being affected.” He put his hand on Doc’s shoulder to lead him out of the medbay, and neither of them looked back.

Danny realized he had no idea how long that sort of thing took, so he decided to take his seat at the desk again. He nearly found himself dozing off again, until Sung tapped him on the shoulder.

“Ready to go?” Sung asked.

Danny turned to face him, and blinked a few times to focus his vision before he nodded. “Ready,” he said. He stood up, and was just about ready to leave when he remembered what Doc had told him. “Wait… hold on,” he said. He spun back around to face the desk, and picked up the pen he’d been holding before. “Uh… paper?” he asked, but before Sung could answer, he found a black notebook and flipped to the first clean page he found. 

“What are you… doing?” Sung asked, trying to look over Danny’s shoulder while he wrote.

“Making you feel better,” Danny replied. He set the pen down and closed the notebook before he stood to stand by Sung. “Alright, let’s go home.”

Sung furrowed his brow, a bit suspicious, but took Danny’s arm nonetheless. He was far too tired to start an interrogation. “Let’s go home,” he said. “For real this time.”

* * *

The next jump was the calmest one yet, now that Sung’s core was much more stable than before. Both he and Danny had their eyes squeezed shut for a few seconds after they landed, and Sung was the first to look at their surroundings.

A familiar floor, familiar walls, familiar messy worktable in the center of the room. They were back in his lab.

“Danny,” Sung whispered as he shook the man who was still clinging onto him. “I think we made it.”

Slowly, Danny opened his eyes. “We… we did?” he asked, his voice shaky.

Sung nodded. “C’mere, let’s just… go upstairs and check.” He started his way up the stairs with Danny in tow, who was shaking, holding onto his arm for dear life. Carefully, he pushed the door open, and found Meouch sitting on the living room couch. Meouch turned to face them, and frowned.

“You guys okay?” he asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost or somethin’.”

Sung nodded slowly and glanced towards the TV. The news was on, and the date and time seemed to match up just fine. It was only a few minutes after they’d initially left. “We’re good,” he replied, “Don’t worry.”

Danny finally made a sound, but at first, it was only in the form of a shaky breath. “I think I’m gonna go… take a nap,” he said.

“Yeah, buddy, go for it,” Sung replied with a gentle pat on Danny’s back. “You deserve it.”

Slowly, Danny let Sung’s arm go, but Sung wasn’t expecting to be pulled into a tight hug. Of course, he didn’t mind in the slightest, and hugged right back. Once Danny pulled back, he made a beeline for his room to get some much-needed rest.

The room was silent for a moment, save for sounds of the TV, until Meouch spoke up again. “You sure you’re okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, we’re all good now,” Sung assured him with a wave of his hand. “We just… took the long way up here, is all. I think I’m gonna get some rest, too.”

“Alright, man,” Meouch said with a shrug, and turned his attention back to the TV. “I’ll call you if we get dinner.”

Sung parted with a wave and went to his own room. It was so nice to be back in such a familiar place, and all he wanted to do was curl up in his bed and sleep for 24 hours straight. However, he knew it would be a good idea to process everything that happened first-- and he often did such things in the form of journaling.

He sat down at his desk and grabbed his current journal, one that was nearly full. He had a lot to say this time around, and he knew he’d probably end up filling the remaining three pages. Before he got it open, however, he remembered something important.

The black notebook. He still had it, didn’t he?

He took a moment to rifle through his desk drawers until he found it, considerably more beaten up than the last time he’d seen it, but still intact. He hadn’t written anything in it since he’d been back on his ship. It had served as a venting place of sorts, somewhere to put his more negative thoughts where he didn’t have to look at them again.

He flipped through the notebook rather quickly until he came across the first page that wasn’t completely filled. There was only one line of writing there, in handwriting that was distinctly not his own.

_You will be loved_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After almost a year, I'm finally done with this. Thanks for hanging around this long, I hope you liked it!


End file.
